Your Wife
by StillMaria
Summary: AU where Catelyn is brought to King's Landing after she kidnaps Tyrion.
1. Chapter 1

The king looks furious. Catelyn knows she's in trouble the moment she sees his red face and clenching fists.

As if the four soldiers meeting her at the city gate and escorting to the Red Keep wouldn't tell exactly the same.

"Your Grace," Catelyn bows, not walking any further than the king's guards have brought her. She searches for Ned but it looks like he is not even here. The king raises his hand and waves at her to come closer. Catelyn makes exactly three steps and freezes. Ned, her Ned is standing under the arch on the side of throne and is watching her.

"Your husband is an honorable man, Cat," the king begins as she's staring at her husband. "He says you were following his orders when you kidnapped my wife's brother, but I don't believe he's that stupid". She trembles. No. No, he told her not to do anything. She disobeyed. And then - the worst - she was wrong. Tyrion Lannister proved his innocence at a trial by combat, forcing her to let him go. Which she didn't. "Leave! All of you!" the king yells, and the guards and lords and ladies all awake from some kind of trance and start to move towards the door. In a matter of moments the throne room is deserted. "For God's sake, Cat, what the fuck were you thinking?" the king gets up and walks down the steps. "Do you know how many people died because of you today? You..." he breathes heavily. He looks furious. "Politics are not for women," the king continues, "And there's no way I'll believe Ned commanded you to do this shit! This is fucking treason! So, what is he? A traitor or a liar?"

Catelyn is taken aback by the question. She doesn't know what to answer, and so she looks at Ned, her eyes mad, her mind begging him for help.

But he's angry with her too, she knows. Even if she cannot see it.

"Your Grace, my husband had nothing to do with any of it," she finally speaks. Robert will forgive his Hand lying to protect a wife, but not ordering her to kidnap a king's relative. That is indeed treason.

It has become such when Catelyn allowed her sister Lysa to hold Tyrion Lannister after he's won the trial by combat. Everything that has happened after that makes Catelyn feel sick in her stomach. All those knights who had to die attacking and defending the Vale. Keeping the half-man Lannister prisoner and trying to free him.

Catelyn wonders why she's still alive after all of this. Because it is pretty clear to her whose side the king has taken. Of course, he'd never believe his wife was capable of murdering a child. He would always take her side. Hers, and her relatives'.

"You're a horrible liar, Ned!" the king shouts not turning to face his old friend.

"Isn't that why you wanted me as your hand, Your Grace?" Ned finally speaks, and Catelyn sees the way he leans on a cane while walking. Oh God, what's happened to him.

"Your wife started a war," all of a sudden Robert starts to laugh, his red face finally relaxing just a little. "Though I suppose I've been needing some fun", he adds and steps closer to Catelyn. She makes a step backwards. "Jon Arryn's been a good Hand to me, but his wife is nuts and that land could use a better ruler than her tit-sucking boy".

Her poor sister. Lysa was always touched, but Catelyn didn't expect it to become so bad after her husband's death.

Ned laughs too, but the sound betrays him: he is not at all amused.

"If you were my wife, I'd beat the hell out of you," the king adds in a calm voice. Catelyn catches her breath.

"Didn't you say it wasn't kingly, Your Grace?" Ned interrupts before Roberts can continue. He obviously is nervous.

"You are not a king!"

"She's a woman. A man should never raise his hand..." he keeps on pushing and places himself between the king and Catelyn, but she now trembles even more.

"Would you rather prefer to be held responsible for your wife's crime, Eddard?"

Ned's full name is a bed sign, Catelyn knows.

Robert wouldn't execute his old friend. Would he? She is no longer sure.

"If I may, Your Grace", she cuts in before her husband can get any deeper into defending her. May the king hate _her_. She is, after all, only a stupid emotional woman with a quick temper. "My husband had no idea I would do what I did. How could he?" Robert doesn't know she's been to King's Landing, and he better not. Or else, he might start questioning his Hand's loyalty.

"So I figured," the king states before hitting hard on Ned's shoulder. "I do wonder what the hell she was doing at that inn where imp was grabbed. But I suppose I can ask later. Right now I need a drink."

He turns around and walks away. Catelyn stares at his back and carefully places her hand on her husband's elbow. She looks at the cane again, wondering but not enough to ask.

"I am so sorry, my love," Catelyn whispers lowering her eyes. Ned doesn't look at her. He follows the king.

"She's your wife to deal with," the king stops a few steps from the big wooden door leading out of the throne room. Ned stops too. "I may not demand a treasonous panishment for she is a woman, _your woman_. But that doesn't mean she'll go unpunished". Catelyn's heart misses a beat and she stares at Ned as he stares at his king. They all stand silently until Robert adds, "We both need a drink, let's go".

Ned hesitates for a moment.

That exact moment later, as he starts to follow the king, gusrds enter the room again to escort Catelyn to her husband's chambers. The tower of the Hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Catelyn can't sleep. She stares at the ceiling laying in her husband's bed, and she cannot sleep. She can't even close her eyes.

She is worried.

This is the second time she's in King's Landing, but she hasn't seen her daughters yet. She misses them. She could probably understand why Ned forbade it the first time, but now... Now, instead of staring at the ceiling for a good part of the day she could've hugged her children. She could've asked Arya and Sansa how they were.

She in worried.

She remembers her husband barely walking. She still wonders what's happened, and perhaps when he comes she'll be brave enough to ask him.

Perhaps, Catelyn says with her lips.

She's not afraid of her husband, but she is. It's a weird feeling, and Catelyn can't quite understand it. She remembers the only time when he really scared her, it may have been many years ago, but if Catelyn digs deep enough, she can feel that overwhelming fear. Back then she didn't have any idea what her husband would do to her when he got angry. She's known him for seventeen years. And she still has no idea. "Now I will learn where you heard that name, my lady," she hears in her mind, rubbing her wrist against the fabric of her dress, and sees her young husband's face so very close to hers. She merely asked him about Jon's mother, and Ned didn't do anything, but she still remembers how frightened she was. For the first and the last time in their married life.

Now she's actually done the opposite of what her husband asked of her.

She remembers what the imp has said. It shouldn't make sence but it does. To a certain point. He would have to be very foolish to give his own weapon to someone and order a killing of a child. Which he isn't. Not foolish, Catelyn thinks, he's anything but foolish. Arrogant, but not foolish.

It still is easier to blame him for her son's tragedy. Because she's got no one else to. And because her sister Lysa did warn her about Lannisters being dangerous.

For a moment she wants to talk to Petyr - it was him who told her about the dagger after all, but the night is dark, and there are guards at the chambers' door. Catelyn is sure of that. Her husband trusts her not to run, but this place does not belong to her husband. It belongs to Robert Baratheon. Her husband is merely a guest here.

She looks around as if she hasn't been here before. She hasn't, she reminds herself. Not since Ned became a Hand of the king.

She watches the shodows dancing on the walls wondering how she could spend so much time in here and not notice any of it.

Catelyn unbuttons her dress because suddenly - so very unexpectedly - she feels hot. She looks around again. Of course, there are no clothes for her. There isn't anything for her or of hers here. Just her husband, but even he is still not here, either getting drunk with the king or trying to convince him not to do anything stupid.

Robert often acts on emotions. Catelyn's been told of what he forced Ned to do to Sansa's darewolf. The king presses until things break around him, she thinks. Until people do what he commands.

And then the door opens with a loud noise.

"You're in bed!" Ned shouts, slamming the door shut behind him. Catelyn jerks, startled. She quickly gets up and walks to her husband, only to stop one step from him. He doesn't move at all, and she almost feels frightened watching his stone-like face. After a few awkward moments Catelyn leans forward, pressing her body against his and wrapping her hands around him. She's missed him. His free hand slides down her hair, careses her shoulder and finally rests on her lower back. He then kisses her neck almost biting the skin, and Catelyn pushes him away. Tries to look into his eyes. This is not what he usually does. And absolutely not what she's expected.

He's drunk.

She feels alcohol in his mouth when he kisses her on the lips, more gently this time. The taste is horrible and almost makes her sick. Ned doesn't often drink so much, and when he does, he never beds his wife. Not because she wouldn't let him and not even because she wouldn't like it. She'd never tell him either of these things, he'd never give her a reason to.

And she knows better than telling him now.

Because if he's doing it, he means to do it this way.

They don't undress, just push her skirts up and his pants down. She smells his breath on her neck and face, and breasts he's kissing through the fabric. He's so very drunk, Catelyn thinks.

His lovemaking though tells her a different story. He's not that drunk if at all. He is just a little clumsy with his injured leg, and he falls on her twice when the pain hits him too hard. He hisses, clenches his teeth and goes on, keeping his body up with his hands. Catelyn stays silent.

"Ned," she whispers when he finishes. He falls to her side, his breath heavy, his lips smiling. Catelyn puts her arms on his chest and moves her head to his shoulder. It's been so much time since they were last together.

"I've missed you," he finally says, covering her arms with his. She feels his heartbeat under her fingers. She feels he's so very tensed. And he smells as if he was absolutely drunk, which he isn't.

"What happened?" Catelyn places a kiss on his cheek, not daring to move any further. She keeps her legs together - maybe, just maybe the discomfort and weight she's feeling in her lower belly and between her legs will result in another child. Nothern child, Catelyn says to herself absentmindedly.

Ned gives her a long thoughtfull look. She herself isn't exactly sure what she's asking. He's been hurt, he can barely walk, and then he's been drinking with the king for the good part of the day and evening, but he isn't really drunk.

"He's angry," Ned says and moves slightly away from his wife to look into her face. "Very angry," he adds.

She sighs.

"As should be you".

"I am," he nodds.


	3. Chapter 3

Ned fixes his pants and brings her skirts down. He touches a small wound, a scratch on her leg, and falls back onto the pillows. They lay silently, her head resting on his shoulder, her mind - not so much. Catelyn doesn't move until she absolutely needs to because her neck, spine, and hands - everything starts to hurt.

"How's Arya?" she asks, hoping to make her husband talk to her. This silence is pressing, tiring, and Catelyn feels that time is running out, even if she cannot quite understand why she feels that way.

"She's... good," Ned responds, still deep in his thoughts. It is his turn to stare at the ceiling now.

"And Sansa?" Catelyn tentatively prods.

"Sansa likes it here," Ned responds, not giving her much in answer.

"Why did you lie to the king?" Catelyn blurts out before thinking whether it is what she really wants to know. Well, now it is. Ned looks at her surprised and pained at the same time. She sees his calm, northern nature and his icy rage fighting within her husband.

"You left me no choice," Ned looks like he's about to say more, but then he doesn't. Instead, he keeps on watching his wife as she loses patience. She's almost crying. And she's laughing, even if this kind of laughter is not a happy one and this is only the second time Ned's ever heard it from her. The first time was a long, long time ago, when Eddard Stark informed his wife of his bastard son joining their family.

"Gods be good, Ned, he could've sentenced you for treason," she says later in a low voice, almost whispering it, yet it sounds very loud.

"You are my wife," Ned taps her head endearingly, "And it is my duty to protect you."

It is also her duty to obey him, Catelyn thinks. And she hasn't. She looks back and wonders if she is actually willing to pay such a big price for justice. It seemed worth it at a time. She isn't sure it was even Lannisters who were guilty, because her sister was clearly not the best person to trust on such matters. Catelyn now knows it; she's seen Lysa. Oh, she's seen her poor sister.

"Did you find any proof?" Catelyn continues her line of thoughts with an actual question.

"I'm not sure yet," his answer is short. "But for a time, even if I did, you should not know."

That hurts. He doesn't trust her. She probably deserves it but it doesn't make it hurt her pride any less. Her husband wasn't always an easy man, but he was always an honest one. At least he was with her.

Then again, she doesn't know how things would have turned out had she not abducted the Lannister's son. Perhaps there would be another reason for the Lion army to siege Riverrun and for her husband to be injured. She still wants to ask him how that's come to be. Perhaps now more than before, but she asks to see her daughters instead. And predictably her husband says no. Ned doesn't offer her any explanations or excuses.

"Have you and Robert decided how to..." Catelyn hesitates briefly, closing her eyes against the various scenarios rushing through her mind, "punish me?"

It doesn't sound like a question at all. She swallows hard and feels her throat turn sore and strange.

Catelyn knows they'll punish her.

She knew it the moment she opened the castle gates in the Vale to let Robert's soldiers in. Her vengeance on the Lannisters wasn't worth the lives of all the soldiers who were now dead; all in a vain effort to find out how Bran had come to fall from that tower.

Catelyn knew it when they killed Lysa, accidentally pushing her through the window. She knew it when they bowed and asked her to come to King's Landing with them. She sure as hell knew it when the knights saw Tyrion's injured face and beaten body. And of course she knew it when upon arriving to the capital their company was met by the king's royal guards and she was separated from the knights and escorted to the throne room.

Truth be told, Catelyn is still surprised she's made it to King's Landing in one piece. She expected the Lannisters to show her no mercy for taking one of their pride. She knows she's failed to be just. The imp was her prisoner and she still allowed her sister to take control and torture the man.

Perhaps Tywin Lannister let her live knowing she'd get her fair share of consequences anyway. Why stain his hands when the king will do it anyway.

"He doesn't want it to be public," Ned says in a cold voice, and Catelyn shivers. She doesn't know what would be worse: public humiliation or private... Private what, she wonders, watching her husband become more and more distant and grim. "House Stark must not be publicly shamed," Ned declares with conviction.

"So, he's letting you decide," Catelyn nods and her voice drops down to a whisper.

This is why Ned's been so distant tonight. This is what's been bothering him. Catelyn blushes, blood comes to her face, turning it red with shame and burning her eyes.

"So, he's letting me decide," Ned repeats her words. Ned never liked being a judge or an executioner. And Catelyn sees the decision he's got to make troubles him. Whatever punishment he sentences her to, he'll have to do himself. That is what he always does, no matter how much he hates it. The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.

There's silence in the room again. She waits for him to talk, to tell her something, anything, but he doesn't. Instead he lifts himself on the pillows and pulls her to his chest, wrapping his hands around her shoulders.

"You are my husband, I trust you to be fair more than anyone."

It's not a lie. She does trust him because he's barely given her any reason not to. He's an honourable man and he's been a good husband. She keeps telling herself that, but then there's Jon Snow and his unknown mother, and all this secrecy and... She stops herself the very moment she realizes her breathing's become erratic and her eyes have turned wet. Thinking about the only time when her husband was not faithful to her is not the best option right now... or ever. But Catelyn cannot help herself, and her mind goes back to when she first saw the baby with stranger's eyes. She hated it then and she still hates it. And Ned made her raise that reminder of his betrayal. Was he fair and just then? Is he going to be now?

"What's done is done and I suppose you had your reasons. I'd only ask you not to do anything like this ever again."

"He saw me on my way back, Ned," she tries to explain. "What was I supposed to do, how could I explain being so far from Winterfell?"

He seems to not have heard her.

She lets out a breath and relaxed just a little. Even though she knows this doesn't really change much and she'll still be punished because the king commands it. And her husband takes his vow to obey the king very seriously. He takes all his vows that way, except for the ones he gave her in the sept when they got married. He broke those when he bedded another woman. He broke them when he made a child and brought that child back home. Catelyn's hands start to shake and she rubs her eyes. She's suddenly agitated and overwhelmed with anger. She loves him though, and ever since then - and except for that - he's never given her a reason not to trust him with her life. Catelyn loves him, she admits to herself, touching his cheeks and playing with hair on his chest. Slowly, her body stops trembling.

"What would you prefer?" Ned suddenly asks, and she's speechless. Her mind becomes wild, rushing and running in circles and still not being able to figure out an answer. Is he serious? She bets that he is. There's nothing wrong about asking her opinion on the matter.

"To be sent back to Winterfell with my daughters," Catelyn finally bursts with laughter. She's tired of controlling herself, tired of being afraid and worried. She's tired of being... tired.

"I mean, the punishment," Ned speaks awkwardly. He's surprised and caught off guard with her suggestion. Watching her smiling face he slowly starts to smile too.

"Me too, home arrest in Winterfell, you can even lock me up in my chambers," she kisses him on his lips, still smiling. He kisses back for a few moments, and then - again, as if she's imagined him ever being happy - he's serious and almost frightening.

"I'm serious, Cat."

She knows he is.


	4. Chapter 4

At night Catelyn barely sleeps. She thinks about her husband's question and cannot suggest anything.

Things are different in the North, and she is from the North now, so Catelyn struggles to figure out a southern way of thinking. She struggles to remember it. She fails to do so.

In the North they chop off people's heads for treason. It's simple and brutal. And it's true. It's honourable, Catelyn murmurs to herself, frightened by her own ideas. They cannot chop off her head, she knows. She's a wife to the Warden of the North and the only good reason to her one would be adultery, which she would never commit.

Because she loves her husband, and because family comes first, and then goes duty, and then there's honour... And after all the Tully words there's no place for... that.

For a few moments she toys with a thought of taking a lover just like her husband did seventeen years ago. She doesn't exactly understand why she'd want another man to touch her, kiss her or stick himself into her. It is disgusting, and frightening. But she still forces herself to think about it, to imagine what would happen then. Would Ned kill her the moment he found out or would he wait and execute her publicly? Would he have it in him to admit that his wife's stepped out on him? Or would he try to pretend it never happened, avoiding bedding her, looking at her and talking to her? The thought of it is so insane that Catelyn cannot imagine any outcome. Because she knows Ned would never believe she's done something that disgusting.

They still say she's committed treason though. It's a woman's treason, the king says.

Which is conflicting, and confusing given that the only treason a woman can commit should bring about her death. Yet, this one won't.

It is not the right name, Catelyn understands. What she'd done no woman in Westeros was supposed to do. But Catelyn is a Tully, and Tullys are no ordinary women, she grins to herself. She doesn't regret taking matters into her own hands. She regrets the outcome, regrets the deaths and destruction, but if she had to do it all over again, she's pretty damn sure she'd repeat every step. It was all to protect her children and her husband. And just because she had the wrong man to blame doesn't mean she shouldn't do anything at all.

It was a mistake, Catelyn nods to herself, not treason. And any woman put in her position would do the same.

If her suspicions about Tyrion were true and she'd let him go - what was to stop the man from trying to kill her son for the third time?

Catelyn does know she was wrong about Tyrion Lannister himself though, and she wishes her suspicions had been pointed at someone else.

She wonders if Ned sees it the way she does. Perhaps she should explaine herself when she has a chance.

The king hasn't truly given Ned the freedom to choose her punishment, Catelyn thinks bitterly, because if it was up to her husband, he'd probably accept her idea and send her back to Winterfell to be locked in her chambers until winter comes.

If it was up to Ned only, all those scared boys running - deserting - from the Castle Black wouldn't be executed by his sword. Catelyn shivers. Her eyes widen. Her husband is fair and he respects the laws, but he never lets his judgement be blurred by compassion or pity. She unwillingly accepts the idea that he might remain just and fair when it comes to her too. Not loving, not caring and not making exceptions just because she is his wife.

No chopping off her head, she counts, no public trial, no banishment and obviously no house arrest.

He could perhaps throw her into a dungeon beneath the Red Keep for a few weeks or even months. She winces at the thought and almost cries out, quickly covering her mouth with a hand. Catelyn looks at her husband who's still sound asleep. She takes a deep breath and tries to calm down.

It's not that bad, Catelyn tells herself, imagining how Ned secretly brings food to her cell every night, bribes the guards and stays with her until the sun rises. Because then he can be just a loving husband and not the Warden of the North or the King's Hand.

She will most likely be allowed to have good warm clothes there, and maybe even a decent bed.

Catelyn lifts her hand and watches the wrist, imagining a heavy metal chain wrapped around it. Even in the darkness of a night the image becomes so vivid that she feels a spark of pain in her stomach. They'll put shackles and cuffs on her, and they'll chain her to a wall for weeks or months. The metal will scratch her skin to the bones. She won't be able to move, she won't be able to use a night pot, forced to take care of her needs in the very same place she sleeps. Ned will be disgusted, and she'll be constantly embarrassed. After months like that she won't be able to walk, so she'll be spending her days in a bed.

She turns away from Ned and onto her side, facing the door. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked her about the punishment.

Because the more she thinks about it, the uglier picture her mind draws.

Now she realizes that if by any chance she does end up in a dungeon, her husband won't be the only person visiting her. Ned can only keep her daughters away from her for so long, and they will find a way to come to her. And that will be the absolute worst of that punishment - her children seeing her and smelling her like that.

Whichever prospect frightens her more, Catelyn doesn't know, but she acknowledges that she's sobbing now. Her body is trembling as if she was freezing.

She falls asleep when the sun starts to rise - only to be awoken by Ned getting up and dressed. He does try to be quiet, but her sleep is way too fragile.

"Have you made a decision?" Ned asks when he sees her eyes open. His voice doesn't sound kind or caring. It's not harsh or cold either.

Catelyn waves her head negatively. She hasn't. Her husband nods, understanding, but says nothing. He looks at her for what feels like forever.

"I see," Ned finally speaks, coming closer to her. "Is there something you absolutely don't want?" his tone doesn't change. He still sounds more like a judge than her husband, but Catelyn appreciates the gesture. She opens her mouth to protest the dungeon, should it cross her husband's mind, but seals her lips without making a sound. She gets up and approaches Ned.

Her hands rest on his.

"Whatever it is, don't let our girls witness it, Ned," Catelyn whispers, feeling her heart pounding in her ears.

"No child should ever see a parent disgraced," he responds, pulling her to his chest, "It is not the girls who are being punished."

Catelyn drops her head to his shoulder. He places a light kiss on her forehead and leaves without saying a word.


	5. Chapter 5

Evening finds Catelyn sitting at a table, staring at a book. She examines the old pages as if they might tell her why Ned even has it in his tower. Tyrells, Baratheons, Lannisters, Starks... They are all written, counted and described in it, but that doesn't make this many-page monster any more entertaining than the blank ceiling Catelyn stared at the previous night.

A fresh breeze comes from the balcony, playing with Cat's hair and driving her attention away from the book. She walks out and watches the city bellow. It's so very different from Winterfell. She smells salt, fish, flowers and ale in the air. She hears drunken screams coming from the streets. King's Landing is no Winterfell: they don't know what winter is here, they don't fear it and they don't respect it, Catelyn thinks.

When she steps back into the chambers, she finds her husband standing in the middle of the room. He does look uncertain. Catelyn stares at him for a few moments, not noticing how she's holding on to the doorway. The expression - or perhaps the absence of such - on Ned's face makes her feel uncomfortable. She then notices the door behind her husband. It's wide open, and framed by it stands the king. She's surprised to see him here. It does seem like he almost has no trust in his Hand. It seems like king Robert, the man for whom her firstborn son is named, must witness with his own eyes lord Eddard Stark executing his wife's sentence.

Robert steps into the room and shuts the door behind him. He locks it, puts the key into his pocket and walks straight to Ned. They share a look, have a short, tense conversation, and Catelyn knows the time for punishment has come.

"Your Grace," she bows, her body starting to tremble. She glances at the door once again: it's locked and noone else is coming. Catelyn knows she should feel gratefull, but she cannot make herself feel anything but panic. Whatever they've decided to do, however they've decided to make her pay for her crime, it is going to happen here. It is going to happen now, and it is not going to be nice. She knows that much just by looking at Ned's tense feature.

"Cat," the king nods in response. He seems irritated, as if he's been through a big argument and hasn't yet calmed down. But he doesn't seem that angry. He doesn't seem as angry as two nights ago when Catelyn first arrived. "Had you not been married to Eddard Stark, I'd have you thrown in the dungeon, and I'd not command the guards to keep you safe there," he says, his voice loud, forceful, and - she thinks - full of contempt. "You kidnapped the queen's brother, and for that alone your head should be on a spike."

Her vision blurs, and Catelyn feels her head spinning. If any of those threats were to come true, she'd not be here right now, and the door wouldn't be locked from the inside. She steps forward. Her head is still spinning, and Catelyn remembers she hasn't eaten anything today. There's plenty of food on the table, but none of it looked tempting enough.

"And then you started a war..." Roberts trails off, obviously about to call her something bad, but choosing not to do so. He shoots a look at Ned, takes a deep breath and continues, "I am his king. And he is yours," Roberts spits, "You can't be punished as a man, even though you deserve every bit of it. So you'll be punished as a..." he bursts with laughter though it is not in the least bit happy or cheerful, "wife!"

Catelyn looks at her husband, searching for answers on his face, but he remains silent. She tries to listen to Robert, but his words turn into noise in her head and she cannot understand anything that comes out of his mouth. She does, however, see Ned waving his hand at the bed. Catelyn hesitates for a brief moment, she still cannot quite understand what is about to happen. The only idea that pops to her mind is so absolutely ridiculous - they cannot possibly plan on beating her, Gods be good, it's not a pinishment for a lady - that Catelyn dismisses it right away. She can't even understand how or why wives could be punished. And is it a highborn wife, or any, or... Catelyn freezes when she sees her husband take off his belt. She glances at Robert, looks back at Ned, and then at Robert again. Her absolutely ridiculous thought no longer seems so ridiculous. Ned holds the belt, weighing it in his hand. Cat's heart skips a beat, and she coughs, still expecting that there's a mistake and she's got it all wrong.

She's not sure what she's expected or hoped for. As Ned walks closer and carefully takes her arm to lead her to the bed, she cannot think of anything else but how humiliating this is. The king and his Hand have been disputing over her punishment for two days and this is what they've come up with. She jerks her arm, breaking free from Ned. How can he seem - be, she corrects herself angrily - so caring and gentle only moments before hurting her? How dares he? Hasn't he vowed to protect her?

Ned walks around the bed and brings a pillow. He hands it to Catelyn, and for a moment she's absolutely unresponsive. In his own way he is taking care of her as he's vowed, Catelyn admits, and it makes her feel even more hurt and humiliated. She simply holds it and doesn't move. Then slowly turns away from Ned, lying down and pressing her belly against the edge of the bed before putting the pillow under her head.

This cannot be happening.

Rage is pouring through her veins, making Catelyn's blood boil. Her body is on fire, her arms are trembling, and not just because she's scared. She is, of course, but there's also anger and hate in her. She's lived with Ned for seventeen years, and not once had he ever raised his hand to her. What would people think if anyone knew the honorable Eddard Stark beats his wife? How would she look into their children's faces knowing their father had deliberately hurt her?

Catelyn's head starts pounding. Perhaps she should've asked to be locked up in a dungeon after all...


	6. Chapter 6

**I seriously wonder if all those 'guests' who are using comments as a message board actually read this story. Do you, guys? Because I'm writing Catelyn's side and I am writing her thoughts on what she's done and why she thinks she was right to do them. Which is the point: we never know what is right and what is wrong in reality, we only know what WE consider right at some point or some given moment. Same with Catelyn, it's all in the story, please read before continuing the battle :D**

"In the name of the King Robert Baratheon, first of his name..." Ned states quietly, and Catelyn tries to listen to his voice, but can barely hear anything. "...sentence you, Lady Catelyn Stark, to receive nothing less than fifty strokes," Ned finishes, and she shuts her eyes tight.

Catelyn loves her husband, and she knows he loves her back; they've built this love over the years, but at this very moment he sounds like a stranger. She feels the edge of the bed pressing against her belly. She feels the softness of the pillow between her fingers and on her lips. She thinks about her children, her beautiful children, Bran, Rickon, Arya, Sansa and Robb, but that only makes her burn with shame. And so she lets the image of their faces fade away.

How will she look at Ned after this?

How will he feel?

She doubts they'll be able to pretend this has never happened.

"Until she tells us what she was doing at that inn and why she grabbed bloody imp," the king spits, dropping himself onto an armchair a few steps from the bed.

"That's not punishment!" Ned shouts. He sounds shocked and angry, "That's bloody torture, Robert. I won't do that to my wife!"

Ned sounds disgusted. They all know why Catelyn had the Lannister imp taken: she thought he was responsible for almost killing her son. But telling the king what made her think that... Well, that will not end well.

"Call it what you will," Robert raises his shoulders, "But I want to know the truth."

"Promise me, Your Grace, promise you'll let me go back. You'll let us go back to Winterfell for good."

The king laughs. They all know King's Landing is the only safe place for Starks right now. They know that Tywin Lannister won't rest until he gets his vengeance. He's already sieged Riverrun for it is Catelyn's home. And he won't stop until he tastes her blood and perhaps even the blood of her children.

Ned walks slowly towards his wife. Leaning onto a cane, he makes an effort to grab her skirt and lift it, but every time he tries to pick it up from the floor he almost falls himself. Finally Catelyn can feel the cold air caressing her naked back. She blushes as if she's travelled seventeen years back to her wedding, to their bedding.

"I'm sorry, Cat, I don't have a choice," Ned says, and it sounds all too familiar to her. He's said that before, he's said that so many times. He said that when bedding her for the first time, he said that when he brought his bastard son to Winterfell... Men always say they don't have a choice.

"Always the wolf guarding his pack, huh?" Robert says with a laugh. Catelyn blushes, once again reminded that she's half naked in from of the king of the Seven Kingdoms. Ned wraps the belt around his hand, ignoring his friend's sarcasm. The narrow piece of leather feels heavy on his fingers. "Get this over with already, will you?" the king is irritated. He lands his fist onto a table almost crashing thick wood.

Ned doesn't hit hard at first, Catelyn thinks. She feels the pain on her hips, but she's imagined it differently. The heavy belt strikes her skin, but it's easy for her not to cry. It doesn't hurt that much. She even silently counts the strokes at first.

Catelyn lets go of the pillow she's been biting and turns her head to see Robert. It is embarrassing. She knows it could've been worse, it could've been the whole court watching her half naked body, it could've been a trained man with a heavy hand punishing her at the king's command.

But it is still mortifying

She bites her lip when another blow lands on her lower back. This one is definitely stronger.

Pressing her elbows to the bed trying not to slip lower, Catelyn watches the king.

The king doesn't look at her. He seems calm, absent even. He's staring at a closed window or whatever it is behind the glass. Another blow and another. They don't come too fast, Ned gives her a few moments after each time, and in between searing pain she thinks that perhaps this is the first time she has seen Robert when he's not drunk.

"Your quick temper," Ned whispers to her, "I warned you about it."

Catelyn clenches her fists, squeezing the pillow, and pushes her face into the warmth of feathers. She knows she'll cry out the next time her husband's belt lands on her body. He's got a heavy hand trained to kill with a sword.

She won't ride a horse any time soon, Catelyn thinks.

"I can handle Tywin," Robert says thoughtfully. Ned stops for a moment, and this moment lasts forever letting Catelyn catch her breath. She still doesn't know whether it is more humiliating or more painful. "I'll tell him it was the mad sister. She is dead anyway." He pauses and allows himself a short glance at Catelyn. "Her ass is barely pink, Ned, you're a pussy!" he laughs.

That's when her face turns really red. Cat cries into a pillow with every next blow. It does hurt now. It burns and cuts her soft flesh. It feels like they are slowly skinning her.

Catelyn can tell the king it was Littlefinger, she thinks in a hysterical attempt to find a way to stop the pain, but she cannot explain how.

No, she cannot even say who it was, because the king might see her as his friend's wife, but he'll surely see Petyr as a problem. She cannot betray her old friend's trust. He'd never do something like that to her. He'd never let her down, and there's got to be an explanation as to why he was wrong about the dagger.

Sobbing and shaking, Catelyn tries to remember the other question Robert wanted answered. Perhaps if she says something about the inn, the pain will stop. She's never been beaten, not even once in her life, and Catelyn struggles to keep her dignity. Instead her hands fly out to cover her abused body from another painful blow. Ned stops and a few moments later she brings her hands back to her face and under the pillow. He goes on.

"I was coming to King's Landing!" Catelyn screams through tears.

Both Robert and Ned freeze, both say "What?" at the same time.

"Why?" Ned adds, and that's when she knows she should've kept her mouth shut. But her feet are trembling, her face is wet and her belly - even though untouched by the punishment - hurts.

"She's had enough, Robert. Enough," Ned says in a stone cold voice, his eyes fixed on the purple lines on his wife's skin.

"I'll tell you when it's enough," the king barks and gets up to walk towards the bed.

"She's not thinking straight," Ned stands in his way, hoping Catelyn won't talk anymore. But she does.

"I stopped at that inn on my way to King's Landing," she says trying to catch her breath. Next thing Catelyn knows she is sliding down onto the floor, dragging the pillow with her. The floor touches her bare skin. She jerks at the contact, falling on her side, and cries silently.

Ned and Robert share a look before asking her why. She doesn't respond at first, and a moment later Ned is kneeling by her side trying to get her up and onto the bed. She's still crying. She hopes Ned really means it when he says she's had enough, because Catelyn doubts she can endure more. In the back of her mind she wonders how far from fifty it has been.

"I wanted to tell him something," she sobs. As soon as she's on the bed, she curls and turns away, covering herself with a thin blanket. "Something important," Catelyn adds, her thoughts jumping from one thing to another, trying to figure out what could be important enough for her to come all the way from Winterfell to the capital. "The queen is having an affair with her brother, the children belong to him," she says finally and freezes the moment the words leave her mouth. She's heard rumors, nothing but rumors, but it doesn't matter right now. She wants the pain to stop. She wants her husband and children to be safe.

Catelyn knows Robert well enough to understand what he'll do. She is still shaking, her body hurts, her eyes burn, but she clearly hears how the king throws something heavy into a wall. It is probably the armchair he was sitting on.

"Is she?" Robert yells at his Hand, and Ned hesitates for a few moments. He is not denying it, and Catelyn sees way less shock on his face than she's expected. Ned looks rather concerned, almost as if he'd already had suspicions.

It might actually be true, for all she knows, regardless of how insane and impossible it sounds.

"There is no proof, Your Grace," taken aback, Ned starts, but Robert is already on his way out. "What have you done?" he asks Catelyn gravely before trying to catch the king at the door.

"I need a drink!" Robert stops at the door and looks back. His face is red. The king is furious. Catelyn looks at him from under the blanket. She remembers the long hair she's found in the tower, and the last bit of compassion dies in her: of course it was Cersei, she pushed her son from the tower. Then the bitch came to see if he was still alive. "Let's go, Ned. We need a big one," Robert adds before turning around to leave.

Catelyn takes a deep breath. They crippled her son. They almost killed her husband. They killed her sister and many men of Riverrun. She doesn't feel sorry even if the incest rumors turn out to be untrue.

"I need to be with my wife, Your Grace," Ned says, still staring at his wife's trembling back. Catelyn would prefer him to go though, she'd prefer them both to go and leave her alone for a time.

"You need to be with your king, damn it!"

Ned looks at his wife. She's not sorry for what's about to happen to the Lannisters.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, folks, I totally got hooked to another show, so I've adjusted this chapter to be the last one in the story. It was originally supposed to go on for another 8 chapters, slowly revealing why Ned did what he did and how Cersei would lose the fight with Starks.**

Catelyn isn't sure how much time passes before Ned comes back, but when he does, he slams the door open and then slams it shut with incredible noise. She feels much better now, finally through with the uncertainty that's been haunting her the past days. Catelyn is so very close to believing Ned's acting for someone else to see. She watches her husband slowly come closer to the bed. It is, after all, the capital, and it is known for nothing less than eyes and ears being everywhere. Little birds, Varys has called them, she remembers.

She wonders if that's what is driving Ned insane. If having to act all the time is what is making him behave so unlike the husband she knows and loves. She'd go crazy too if she had to pretend all the time.

Catelyn wonders who the birds watching her and Ned will sing to. Perhaps, Lord Varys, or maybe Petyr; it is even possible that the king has his own spies, and of course so does the queen.

"Robert is reckless, but he is no fool," Ned starts, almost whispering, "The crown owes the Lannisters too much, there can be no action against them until the proof is found," Ned takes a cup and pours water in it, then hands it to Catelyn and watches her drink. She had no idea she was so thirsty. "It is a dangerous place, and you may have created a very powerful enemy for our family, Cat, just by throwing an accusation like that, true or false, it doesn't matter."

She knows she has. But fear shouldn't stop them from seeking justice, should it? Her son is already fighting a war with Lannisters in the Riverlands, so it is far too late to fear.

The war she has started when she took the imp, she admits.

She wishes things would play out differently, and for a moment she wonders where Tyrion Lannister is now. The last time she saw him he was badly injured and could barely talk. She knows he was the wrong Lannister. Would he listen to her should she ask for his forgiveness?

Ned sits on the edge of the bed and carefully lifts the blanket his wife's covered with. She doesn't resist, just starts breathing louder. Moving her skirt up, he watches bruised back and hips with a bitter expression and is about to touch her with the back of his hand, but then he stops only so far that Catelyn can feel his warmth. She moves to see what he's been looking at, and winces in pain.

"I'm sure it could be worse," she offers him a weak smile and drops her head back onto the pillow. There's no point in trying to seem stronger than she is. Ned knows his wife is strong, he's seen her give birth to five children, he knows, she tells herself. She watches him, waiting to hear something that would resemble an apology – not because he owes her one, but because he knows it would make his wife feel better. As moments pass by, the silence becomes almost impossible.

"You have been sentenced to fifty strokes," Ned begins, and Catelyn can see how absolutely awkward he looks. She could probably recognize sickness on his face if she'd allow herself to look closer.

"You had no choice," she responds the moment her husband makes a pause. Catelyn is surprised by how sure she sounds. It's almost as if she really believed what she was saying.

Ned waves his head negatively, looks at his own hands then glances at the door and at his wife's beaten body. He is nervous, she sees, and his nervousness makes her nervous too. Ned's breathing become so very loud, she seems him struggling, and she can't recall another time he's been so tense. Catelyn feels her heartbeat quicken. Something is not right.

"I must finish what was started," Ned finally states, breathing out, and gets up from the bed.

Catelyn raises her eyebrows and bites her lip. Whatever her husband is trying to tell her doesn't seem to be making him happy, and somehow she gets a notion that it's not going to make her happy either. She lifts herself on her elbows, trying not to disturb her injured back. It may not hurt when she's steady, but as soon as she starts to move, it reminds her how badly it has been violated.

Ned starts to take off his belt once again. Catelyn freezes. He cannot be seriously intending to beat her again. For what purpose would he do that if the king isn't even here to witness it?

As Ned comes one step closer to her, she instinctively moves away on the bed, hissing in discomfort.

"No," she breathes out shortly, not being able to pick the right words. It's mostly shock and anger in her now. "Please, Ned," her voice is steady. Catelyn knows it's not because she's calm, but rather because she is terrified. Her voice sounds so daring and brave that she hates herself for it. She hears herself speaking as if she was asking her husband to close a window or light a candle. Perhaps if Ned could see just how bad things were for her, he would reconsider punishing her more. Catelyn swallows hard, still slowly backing from her husband towards the middle of the huge bed. "Why?" she adds, finally hearing her voice trembling the way it should.

She looks at Ned. He doesn't even have to say it, she already knows. Her fear tells her. It's about honor. It's about the damn honor that comes before anything else for the Starks.

For Catelyn, it is family that comes first. But for Eddard Stark it is the honor. She wishes he remembered that honor seventeen years ago, when he made a bastard with another woman and brought that bastard home to raise with his trueborn children. Where was his honor then?

"What you told the king, where did you hear it?" he suddenly asks, his voice soft. Catelyn drops her head onto a pillow. She bites her tongue. She wants to ask if it's still about her kidnapping the imp or perhaps telling the king about the Lannisters' nasty secret. It's probably both. Ned hates when innocent blood is spilled, and a rumor like that – even if an untrue rumor – placed in Robert Baratheon's head, can prove to be deadly dangerous for many.

The truth is Catelyn doesn't even remember where she's heard it. It was perhaps her sister Lysa who told her, or perhaps she's heard it somewhere on her way to the capital.

"Do you absolutely have to?" she doesn't mean to yell, though her voice sounds thunderous to her own ears. Ned nods, but offers nothing more. "Why did you stop then?" Catelyn feels like she's about to cry. She was sure this nightmare had been left behind. Her lips tremble, her eyes are now wet.

He has no need to say it out loud, she already knows the answer. Her husband had to silence her before she'd say more terrible things trying to save herself. She predicts that she probably would have.

"It is seventeen left," Ned says quietly, and Catelyn jerks, cries out and covers her face with hands. That's too many. She is actually surprised to learn he's been counting them in the first place. It makes her desperate – he was counting the strokes, he didn't mean to stop just because she would beg him; he didn't mean to stop before he'd finish. After taking deep breaths and biting her cheek, Catelyn pauses as long as she can and then moves back to the edge of the bed. Her whole body feels strange and clumsy. It feels like it doesn't belong to her. In the corner of her eyes she notices her husband's hands shaking wildly.

She clenches her teeth on a pillow and shuts her eyes so tight that it makes her head spin.

There's no escape this time, no questions asked, no truths to be revealed, Catelyn tells herself. She knows her husband won't strike hard, but it won't matter. It hurts to even softly touch the bruised skin, let alone beat it with the heavy leather belt Ned's holding in his hands. Unsteady hands, she thinks to herself.

It is less than a half, though.

Catelyn screams when the first blow comes. She means to stuff her mouth with a pillow and stay silent, but instead she sounds like a wounded animal. She jumps on the bed, digging her fingers so deep into the sheet that it gets ripped. Another stroke lands on the very same spot, and then another and she turns hysterical, moving erratically and trying to get away. A belt is no sword, and Ned just cannot aim it right, she thinks and then the next blow beats the air out of her lungs.

He beats fast, rushing as if he's afraid someone might want to come and witness the process. At some point Catelyn tries to take a wet hair from her eyes and scratches her own cheek. It starts hurting a few moments later, when salty tears get a hold of the wound.

She comforts herself with thoughts of how they will all go home, but every stroke sets chaos in her mind, making it fly from one image to another. She doesn't scream so badly anymore though – Catelyn whimpers, sobs, moans and hisses into a pillow, but she doesn't scream and she doesn't move.

And then it stops.

Ned quickly puts the belt aside and takes a small jar out of his pocket. He bends next to his wife's head, lifting it with his hand and pouring a liquid from that jar into her mouth. She swallows it with relief, smelling and tasting milk of poppies. Trails of it run down Catelyn's chin, she chokes, coughing, but keeps on drinking until the jar is empty and Ned puts it away.

He carefully fixes the pillow and removes the hair from her sweaty face. Ned is a loving husband, a caring one, but he was never too good being tender or showing his affection. Lord Eddard Stark is a northerner, a soldier to a bone. And this is the most he can do for his wife right now.

She feels dizzy and her body is becoming so very relaxed. She doesn't expect Ned to tap on her head, soothe her to sleep or kiss her tears away. He's never held her hand when she was in labor, he's never sung lullabies to his children. The last thing she remembers is a soft kiss on her forehead and a barely audible whisper to her ear, "They needed to see this, I'm so sorry, Cat."

And then she drifts to sleep. When she wakes up Catelyn finds her head rested on Ned's chest. He's holding her shoulder and from the looks of it he's sound asleep himself. She smiles weakly with only corners of her mouth. If her husband went through so much trouble to deceive someone, she'll learn to be careful too. They'll both learn if they want to return to Winterfell alive. _If they want justice._


End file.
